Tuesday, November 17, 2009
5 most common YA subgenres
Suzie Townsend is a junior agent with FinePrint Literary Management and she goes into detail about the 5 most common YA subgenres. "Common" can sometimes be tried and true, or sometimes, it's just plain ol' tiring. A really great, educational read on Susan Adrian's blog
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
My dream book looks like ...
Scott Westerfeld's LEVIATHAN! The Steampunkish illustrations are exactly what I've imagined THE UNICORN TAMER to look like. Hopefully someday ... *crosses fingers*
Today I came on to drool over bookshelves. In the last month or two, I've bought:
* GRACELING by Kristin Cashore
* GOING BOVINE by Libby Bray
* BOY TOY by Barry Lyga
* THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER by Sarah Dessen
* SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr
* HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick
* ON WRITING by Stepehn King
and they are all currently lying on my floor because I am out of shelf space. It'll take some re-arranging before I can buy a new bookshelf, but it's still fun to look!
Neil Gaiman shows his shelves:
Popping colors:
Floating bookshelves:
Unique shapes:
Tree:
Today I came on to drool over bookshelves. In the last month or two, I've bought:
* GRACELING by Kristin Cashore
* GOING BOVINE by Libby Bray
* BOY TOY by Barry Lyga
* THE TRUTH ABOUT FOREVER by Sarah Dessen
* SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr
* HUSH, HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick
* ON WRITING by Stepehn King
and they are all currently lying on my floor because I am out of shelf space. It'll take some re-arranging before I can buy a new bookshelf, but it's still fun to look!
Neil Gaiman shows his shelves:
Popping colors:
Floating bookshelves:
Unique shapes:
Tree:
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
It's Its and 5 Ways to NOT reach your dreams
How To Use An Apostrophe
A pictorial guide on how to correctly use apostrophes. Fun!
5 Ways To NOT Get Your Novel Published
1. Don’t be amazing - The single most common reason for novels not being published is that they are simply not amazing. Publishers have an almost unlimited supply of writers looking to get their books in print, so why would they publish anything but the very best writing? Your novel being good is just not good enough.
A pictorial guide on how to correctly use apostrophes. Fun!
5 Ways To NOT Get Your Novel Published
1. Don’t be amazing - The single most common reason for novels not being published is that they are simply not amazing. Publishers have an almost unlimited supply of writers looking to get their books in print, so why would they publish anything but the very best writing? Your novel being good is just not good enough.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Fancy e-books
Publishing veteran resurfaces with e-book venture
Former HarperCollins honcho Jane Friedman steps into the future, launching Open Road Integrated Media to publish e-books drawn from known and amateur authors.
Super interesting read here.
Former HarperCollins honcho Jane Friedman steps into the future, launching Open Road Integrated Media to publish e-books drawn from known and amateur authors.
Super interesting read here.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A taste of what it feels like to have an agent!
I won Kelly Sonnack's 5-page crit in Cynthia Liu's "Take the Dare" auction and I think it's some of the best money I've ever spent. Not only did a bunch of kids get a bunch of books, but Kelly is sweet. She's also honest and has gone above and beyond the call of duty.
She's not only:
* critiqued my pitch
* answered really detailed questions I have about publishing/writing-related things
* thoroughly reviewed and provided feedback on my first 5 pages
* been supportive throughout this whole process
but she's also offering to:
* read both my 1st person pages and 3rd person pages to tell me which one is better
* have a phone conversation
* read the complete, polished manuscript
*falls over*
She's amazing and I'm so lucky. Not to mention so very scared. I want FRIENDS WITH DEATH to surpass her expectations. I'm so nervous, I'm having a little trouble writing. Which is why I'm reading (recently purchased GOING BOVINE) - to learn and better my craft.
Anyway, that's what I've been working on. I'm also, once again, wrestling with the decision of "should this story be told in 1st person or 3rd" and I'm trying to decide if I want to do NaNoWriMo this year. I have this WIP to finish and polish and my MG fantasy that I want to completely re-write so I don't know if I have the time to meet the 50,000 words in 30 days goal. I'm super tempted, though. How about you? Are you NaNoWriMo-ing?
She's not only:
* critiqued my pitch
* answered really detailed questions I have about publishing/writing-related things
* thoroughly reviewed and provided feedback on my first 5 pages
* been supportive throughout this whole process
but she's also offering to:
* read both my 1st person pages and 3rd person pages to tell me which one is better
* have a phone conversation
* read the complete, polished manuscript
*falls over*
She's amazing and I'm so lucky. Not to mention so very scared. I want FRIENDS WITH DEATH to surpass her expectations. I'm so nervous, I'm having a little trouble writing. Which is why I'm reading (recently purchased GOING BOVINE) - to learn and better my craft.
Anyway, that's what I've been working on. I'm also, once again, wrestling with the decision of "should this story be told in 1st person or 3rd" and I'm trying to decide if I want to do NaNoWriMo this year. I have this WIP to finish and polish and my MG fantasy that I want to completely re-write so I don't know if I have the time to meet the 50,000 words in 30 days goal. I'm super tempted, though. How about you? Are you NaNoWriMo-ing?
Friday, September 18, 2009
Blowing Off the Blog Dust
Yup, still alive! I hate to say it, but work has gotten in the way of writing. C'est la vie!
So yesterday, at 1AM, instead of going to bed like a good employee, I decided to give myself a challege: 20K in 7 days. SOUNDS CRAZY FUN, doesn't it? My WIP is about 55% complete and edited. Now, it's a race to the finish line!
In other, non-writely news, the Significant Other and I are trying to buy a house. I wish it was as easy as:
me: "Bank, I have this much. I would like to buy a house for this much. Please loan me the difference."
bank: *checks important things* "OK, I trust you. Here you go!" *poof loan*
me: "I like your house, Owner."
owner: "It costs $525,000."
me: "I'll give you $500,000 for it."
owner: "I won't go a penny below $515,000."
me: *ponders* *loves house* "It's a deal!" *gives Owner money*
me: la la la
So yesterday, at 1AM, instead of going to bed like a good employee, I decided to give myself a challege: 20K in 7 days. SOUNDS CRAZY FUN, doesn't it? My WIP is about 55% complete and edited. Now, it's a race to the finish line!
In other, non-writely news, the Significant Other and I are trying to buy a house. I wish it was as easy as:
me: "Bank, I have this much. I would like to buy a house for this much. Please loan me the difference."
bank: *checks important things* "OK, I trust you. Here you go!" *poof loan*
me: "I like your house, Owner."
owner: "It costs $525,000."
me: "I'll give you $500,000 for it."
owner: "I won't go a penny below $515,000."
me: *ponders* *loves house* "It's a deal!" *gives Owner money*
me: la la la
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
AS YOU WISH Debuts Today!!
I don't remember how I stumbled upon Jackson's Pearce's blog, but I did, just about a year ago. I follow her antics daily. She's funny, brilliant, charismatic, and makes the best darn paper puppets ever:
Her first book, AS YOU WISH, is out today! Please help her celebrate by buying the book!
Read about Jackson's journey to publication here and DON'T STOP WRITING!!
Her first book, AS YOU WISH, is out today! Please help her celebrate by buying the book!
Read about Jackson's journey to publication here and DON'T STOP WRITING!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)